Automakers recalling millions more vehicles
TORONTO Millions more vehicles containing defective Takata Corp. airbags are being recalled, including 400,000 Chrysler vehicles in Canada alone, as the fallout from the largest recall in history continues to spread.
Eight automakers announced Friday they will recall more than 12 million vehicles in the U.S. to replace the potentially dangerous airbags, which can rupture and blast shrapnel into vehicles.
A total number was not immediately available in Canada, but several automakers confirmed they will participate.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Canada said the latest recall would affect about 400,000 vehicles, although that might include some overlap with previous campaigns. FCA also recalled 4.3 million older-model vehicles in the U.S., mostly from the 2004 and 2005 model years.
Mazda Canada said it will recall 7,283 vehicles while Nissan Canada said about 3,000 vehicles are affected. Mitsubishi Canada said 6,110 Lancer models from the 2006 and 2007 model years will be recalled.
Toyota Canada and Honda Canada both said the most recent recall doesn’t affect any vehicles that haven’t already been the subject of earlier Takata-related recalls, although Honda said some vehicles that already had their driver-side airbags repaired will now also need their passenger-side inflators replaced.
Subaru Canada estimated that as many as 11,000 Legacy, Outback and Baja vehicles could be affected.
Transport Canada said the affected vehicle models and years will be posted on its website “as soon as possible.”
“Transport Canada is not aware of any incidents in Canada involving abnormal deployment of airbags supplied by Takata,” spokesman Daniel Savoie said in an email.
“As the defect is tied to exposure to sustained high humidity and temperature conditions, such as would be found in the southern United States, the risk to Canadians is believed to be low.”
This month, Japan’s Takata agreed to declare as many as 40 million additional airbag inflators defective by 2019 in a move that will involve recalls by 17 automakers.
They are prioritized by the car’s age and the risk of exposure to high humidity. As a result, some owners may not get replacement inflators for several years.
The defective airbags have been linked to at least 13 deaths and more than 100 injuries worldwide, but none in Canada. Automakers worldwide had previously recalled about 50 million vehicles with Takata inflators. Japan’s transport ministry said Friday automakers will recall approximately seven million more vehicles there, so the global total is approaching 70 million.
Takata’s shares fell 8.1 per cent in Tokyo trading, extending losses after the ministry announcement. The latest order brings the number of vehicles recalled in Japan to about 19.6 million and will cover all the company’s inflators without a drying agent, according to Masato Sahashi, a transport ministry official.
Takata is in bailout talks with a number of potential investors, including private-equity firm KKR & Co., Reuters reported. It named an outside committee in February to lead an overhaul. Those advisers said Wednesday they had hired investment bank Lazard to counsel on the financial restructuring.
In November, the company agreed to pay a US$70-million fine for safety violations, and it faces an ongoing U.S. criminal investigation as well as several class-action lawsuits.